Free kibbles

LIBERTY:

Freedom of choice in America is not an illusion, I really am free to chose between McDonalds and Burger King, but government at all levels significantly restricts our choices and makes them significantly more expensive.

"We have no freedom of choice in America; it’s an illusion. The federal and state governments regulate every single market in this country which means that everything any American thinks he is freely choosing is something that in fact has been “approved” by the state for American consumption and Americans may only “choose” from that list. Choosing something not on the “approved” list is considered criminal and can result in one losing their freedoms altogether. That’s not freedom of choice, that’s state control of people’s lives. If the last two sentences were said in the context of a communist regime, no one would hesitate to nod acceptingly, but when uttered in the context of the U.S. government, they are considered to be conspiratorial and paranoid, but are true just the same."

I think the point this guy is making is that government can take that choice away any time it wants, so it's not accurate to call it freedom. I agree with that. This is why I say we're much closer to being the Soviet Union than we are to being the constitutional republic created by our Founding Fathers.

But the far more ridiculous illusion of freedom is in our political system. Getting to choose which of two aristocrats put their boots on our throats is no choice at all. Can you imagine walking into a store to buy a hat and finding only two hats: a red ball cap and an identical blue ball cap? No green or orange ball caps. No cowboy hats. No stocking caps. No fur lined hats. No college team hats. Just ball caps identical in every way except one is red and one is blue. Then can you imagine the clerk proudly proclaiming that America is free because our two hat system allows (there's that word allows again) us to choose between these significantly different hats? Our political system is a travesty. That's the grand illusion.

"A lot of people don’t realize that during communism in countries like Romania, they held presidential elections as well every so many years and the people were told that they could “choose” the president. Thing was: all the candidates belonged to the communist party so there would always be a communist president and communism would persist. In order for someone from the communist party not to be elected, a second party would somehow have to get on the ballot and in 1990 this finally happened.

The sad, disappointing and frustrating thing is that we have the same situation here in America but the pixy-dust-sniffing majority in this country doesn’t realize it. Last presidential election I voted for the candidate of my choice, Ron Paul, and the state of Georgia threw my vote away because Ron Paul was not an official state-approved candidate. He had not done what the state decided he would need to do to be on the ballot so therefore he was not considered an “official” candidate and was not on the ballot. If you chose to vote for him as a write-in, then they simply did not count your vote.

How is having only two major parties who are always on the ballot and an election system designed by the state to keep those two parties in power and which makes it almost financially and logistically impossible for other parties to get on the ballot so much different from the communist system of having only one party on the ballot and an election system that makes it financially and logistically impossible for other parties? There’s no freedom of choice in selecting our government. We as Americans are constantly voting for the lesser of two evils and seem to be content to do so."

That's what I'm talking about.

Swiss court upholds banking privacy in Switzerland, undoing an agreement the IRS coerced from the Swiss government.

Cato study backs up my contention that libertarianism runs through the great mainstream of America.

"Finally, we commissioned Zogby International to ask our three ANES questions to 1,012 actual (reported) voters in the 2006 election… We asked half the sample, “Would you describe yourself as fiscally conservative and socially liberal?” We asked the other half of the respondents, “Would you describe yourself as fiscally conservative and socially liberal, also known as libertarian?”

The results surprised us. Fully 59 percent of the respondents said “yes” to the first question. That is, by 59 to 27 percent, poll respondents said they would describe themselves as “fiscally conservative and socially liberal.”"

I still think a libertarian candidate running as a Republican on a populist theme (government makes the rich get richer and the poor get poorer) would win a historic landslide.

ECONOMY:

Like all other government regulations, the big banks have figured out how to get around Obama's new bank regulations. All these regulations do is protect them from competition so they can take more risks, make more money and get bailed out when they screw up. Over time, they'll pay to have those regulations rewritten to favor them even more.

Impending global stock market collapse may lead to a temporary boost for bonds and the dollar and a temporary drop in precious metals. The key word is temporary. I wouldn't call gold falling back below $1000 a crash. I would call it a buying opportunity. I don't think I would trust gold certificates right now. Too much opportunity for fraud.

Because of government's new regulations on credit cards, card companies have increased their rates, just as expected.

TAX AND SPEND:

Obama's deficit reduction panel is forbidden from recommending spending cuts. I can't help but laugh. On the flip side, Democrats in trouble (that's probably about all of them) want to extend the Bush tax cuts. How much an election changes things.

FEDERAL RESERVE:

Bank of England economists point out that the current system of banks and government bailout cycles will inevitably lead to collapse. The men behind the curtain are finally beginning to admit what we all know. I bet they get fired.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE:

UK to employ spy drones on its own citizens. Look for that to come to America soon.

WAR:

Practical joking TSA agent fired. This is remarkable for it's extreme rarity. Maybe they should try firing the agents who let bombs get past them.

Apparently Ron Paul made his comments about the CIA recently, not in 2007 as I previously wrote.

Obama intends to imprison detainees forever without charges. This cannot be allowed to happen. If he can do it them, he can do it to anybody. These people must be tried for war crimes if applicable or released somewhere if not.

Director of National Intelligence admits mistakes with the underwear bomber and says the intelligence community will mess up in the future. Yes it will. It's a human organization, and it will make mistakes. It's also a socialist institution, so it will make significantly more mistakes than a typical private sector institution. It's also a central planning institution, so those mistakes will cause significantly more damage than a private sector institutional failure.

POLITICS:

Obama tries to get his mojo back by attacking Wall Street and banks. This is a smart move because Republicans are too stupid to know how to defend against this. You can't defend the banks. You have to point out that Democrats like corrupt Chris Dodd, corrupt Barney Frank, and all the rest of them are in the pockets of Wall Street, and you have to point out these regulations will help Wall Street and harm mainstream Americans.

Top 50 industries ranked by political donations. Needless to say, Democrats are big winners because corporations always benefit from bigger government. 48 industries, all but oil and gas and automotive, give more to Democrats. That's why Democrats demonize the oil industry so much. 44 of 50 top recipients are Democrats. Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer's names show up a lot. This is amazing info.

54 percent of Americans trust Obama to solve our problems. Those people aren't paying attention.

Can you imagine the hell liberals would raising if Arlen Specter had still been a Republican when he kept telling some female Senator to act like a lady? We'd have seen hundreds of articles and pseudo-news stories about Republican misogyny. But he's a Democrat now, so it's no big deal.

I think Obama's right that voters are upset over the last nine years. Bush is a lot to blame. What he doesn't understand is they're upset over the explosive growth in the size and scope of government over those last nine years.

Another poll question I would like to see asked: Would you prefer a bigger government with higher taxes, more abysmal services and a weaker economy or a smaller government with lower taxes, fewer abysmal services and a stronger economy? I think the preference would overwhelming.

MISC:

UN proposing global tax. Hell no.

Personal story of how life in America has changed for the worse.

Chief Justice Roberts thinks the minimum wage is constitutional and good policy. Where does the Constitution give the government the power to interfere in the compensation contract between employer and employee?

Undercover police attack and beat eighteen year old for carrying a Mountain Dew. Seriously. Then they charge him with resisting arrest.

"The supposed men responsible for this crime have been “punished” by being re-assigned to duty as uniformed officers. Their identity, unlike that of the victim, is being withheld from the public."

You or I would properly be tried for assault, which is what should happen to these cops.

Honking the horn for any reason other than to avoid an accident is illegal in Ohio. The next time you drive past a buddy of yours and honk the horn, you will subject to violence from the state in return.